The Army recruiting video, titled “Leaders Made Here,” features students from the UCLA ROTC unit. (Photo courtesy of Brian Tan)

University of California-Los Angeles Office of Media Relations

LOS ANGELES — The University of California-Los Angeles Army ROTC is working to inspire people to choose the U.S. military as a potential career path.

Students from the current Bruin battalion appear in the Army’s first virtual reality (VR) recruitment video, which can be viewed through nearly any virtual reality viewer, including Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.

The video, titled “Leaders Made Here,” was created via collaboration between the UCLA Department of Military Science/ Army ROTC, and Holor Media, a virtual reality company based in Hollywood and led by former executives from Disney, Pixar and Industrial Light and Magic.

The six-minute immersive film gives viewers a chance to live life as an Army
cadet participating in a field training exercise.

It was filmed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near San Diego and features students from the current Bruin battalion, which is made up of students from UCLA, as well as other nearby colleges that don’t offer ROTC.

Interspersed with real testimonies from college students enrolled in the program, the viewer is given a chance to take
part in land navigation, medical training, Army ceremonies and even an obstacle course.

“If potential students enjoy the experience of being an Army cadet in VR, we challenge them to apply for and experience the real thing,” said Lt. Col. Shannon Stambersky, UCLA professor of military science. “Virtual reality is fantastic and all as a starting point, but reality-reality itself can’t be beat.”

Video director Brian Tan believes a series of shorts like this could be a recruiting game changer.

“Unlike most 360-degree videos, which are passive, y-on-the-wall experiences, this was filmed from a first-person point of view, giving viewers unprecedented interactivity and engagement close to the real thing,” said Tan, who goes by “BLT.”

The students featured in the video are all UCLA juniors. All of them are expected to join the U.S. Army after they graduate in 2018.